All articles by Nyree Stewart – Page 7
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NewsUK roundup: Hackney, Mattioli Woods, Risk transfers
UK – The London Borough of Hackney has appointed two global equity managers, and pension consultancy Mattioli Woods has confirmed the acquisition of pension administration firm CP Pensions.
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NewsTowers Watson encourages diversification into reinsurance
GLOBAL – Institutional investors need to further diversify their assets into areas such as reinsurance strategies by using catastrophe bonds and other insurance linked securities, according to Towers Watson.
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NewsUK roundup: Alliance Boots, Berkshire, Hewitt
UK – Alliance Boots has confirmed it will close its defined benefit (DB) schemes and switch to a new defined contribution (DC) arrangement, while the Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund is seeking a provider for pensions administration software.
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Features
Funds boost engagement
Pension funds have stepped up their corporate engagement processes in 2010 with the widely-backed campaign for more disclosure on the costs and impacts of Canadian oil sands projects.
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NewsNPRF profits from bank bail-outs
IRELAND – The National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF) reported an overall return of 4.8% in the first quarter of 2009 as its direct investments in Bank of Ireland and AIB delivered 4.2%.
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NewsThird of EU workers would retire early for less
EUROPE – A third of workers in Europe would rather retire early and receive less income than continue working past the existing national retirement age, according to research by Aon Consulting.
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NewsPGGM to increase direct engagement projects
NETHERLANDS – PGGM, the €90.8bn pension asset manager for the care and welfare sector, intends to increase its direct engagement with companies despite initiating more than 80 direct engagement projects on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in 2009.
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NewsDIY de-risking requires frequent monitoring
UK - The £1.5bn (€1.73bn) Kingfisher defined benefit pension scheme plans to stick with its 'DIY de-risking' programme, but warns that increased market volatility requires greater trustee time and resources.
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NewsPension funds call for improved anti-corruption measures
GLOBAL – The four Swedish pension buffer funds from AP1 to AP4 and APG Asset Management are among a coalition of 20 institutional investors calling for firms to improve anti-corruption measures and disclosure.
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NewsDomestic equities drive ATP's 2.9% return
DENMARK – A large allocation to domestic equities helped boost the first quarter results from ATP Group, which reported a 2.9%, return on its investment portfolio.
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NewsBarclays targets EU investors with volatility ETNs
EUROPE – Pension funds and other institutional investors are being targeted by Barclays Bank, with the European launch of 12 exchange traded notes (ETNs) including three based on volatility, of which one specifically uses a European index that could be useful in relation to Solvency II.
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NewsNPRF to increase holding in BoI to 36%
IRELAND – The National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF) is set to increase its investment in the Bank of Ireland to up to 36% of ordinary stock capital, as part of the bank's plan to raise equity to meet new capital requirements set out by the financial regulator.
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NewsBlackRock figures highlight move to passive strategies
GLOBAL – BlackRock has reported net outflows by institutional investors of $39.6bn (€29.9bn) and inflows of $8.9bn, as the global equity rally and tightening credit spreads have caused investors to reconsider investment strategies and shift from active to passive investments.
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NewsFinnish pension insurers reap equity rewards
FINLAND – Finnish pension insurers continue to benefit from increased allocations to equities, particularly domestic stocks, as both Veritas Pension Insurance Company and Tapiola Pension post three-month returns of more than 4%.
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NewsUK roundup: F&C, JP Morgan custody, GKN, DB closures
UK – F&C Asset Management has announced plans to acquire specialist investment firm Thames River Capital, while JP Morgan Worldwide Securities Services has been awarded two custody mandates.
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NewsTrustee firm enters fiduciary management with outsourcing model
UK – Atkin Trustees, a UK-based independent trustee firm, is moving into the area of fiduciary management for small pension schemes with the launch of its Scheme Management Outsourcing (SMO) offering.
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NewsFinnish equity investment drives Varma Q1 returns
FINLAND – Domestic equity investments boosted Varma's return on listed equities to 9.7%, to feed into a 4.2% overall return in the first quarter of this year.
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NewsUK roundup: East Riding, Aviva, Gwynedd, Hounslow
UK – East Riding of Yorkshire Council has appointed an external manager to run part of its pension fund, while insurance company Aviva has initiated a staff consultation on changes to its defined benefit (DB) scheme.
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NewsPfZW investments return 5% in Q1
NETHERLANDS – Structured credit and the inflation and interest rate hedging mandate helped drive Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (PFZW) to a 5.2% return in the first quarter of 2010.
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NewsIASB's defined benefits exposure draft still expected this month
GLOBAL – An Exposure Draft (ED) on the recognition and disclosure of changes in defined benefit pension scheme obligations has been scheduled for publication by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) this month.
